


Stay With Me

by TheSwordLesbian



Series: Life is Strange One-shots [3]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwordLesbian/pseuds/TheSwordLesbian
Summary: Taylor has a panic attack, and Victoria is there to help her.
Relationships: Victoria Chase & Taylor Christensen, Victoria Chase/Taylor Christensen
Series: Life is Strange One-shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723183
Comments: 14
Kudos: 22





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Another one from my list of one-shots.  
> I've not seen much fic about Taylor and Victoria as a couple but they're pretty cute together IMO.

Taylor sat bolt upright in her bed, breath heaving, heart racing, drenched in sweat. Desperately looking around to orient herself. “ _My room. I’m okay. It was just a dream. Mom is okay. I’m okay… I’m not okay…_ ” She pulled her knees up to her chest and tightly wrapped her arms around them. Her hair was damp with sweat, she ran her hands through it brushing away strands stuck to her forehead. She tried to calm her breathing but she was panicking now and neither her breath nor her heartbeat was going to slow down easily. “ _What if it wasn’t just a dream? What if something’s wrong?_ ” She looked at her phone, no missed calls. “ _They’d call me right? What if they didn’t call? What if it’s too big of an emergency and they don’t call?_ ” Tears were welling up in her eyes now and she couldn’t stop them if she wanted to. Her heart was galloping and her head was feeling dizzy from her hyperventilating. “ _I need help._ ” She blinked the tears away as well as she could to see her contact list long enough to select the one she was looking for and put it on speaker. Her chest was heaving and she was fully sobbing at this point. 

After two rings the phone picked up and a groggy voice answered. “Taylor? What’s wrong?”

The blonde opened her mouth to speak but she was still silently sobbing and the only thing she could manage was a slight gasp of air as her chest heaved trying to breathe.

The voice spoke up again, sounding more awake and alert this time. “T talk to me. What’s going on??”

Taylor’s breath shuddered and she actually managed to get words out. “Victoria… please... “ But that was all she could muster before she devolved back into a weeping mess. She vaguely recognized the sound of feet running down the hall before her door clicked open and a tall figure was striding over to her bed and pulling her into a hug. 

Soft hands rubbed soothing circles in her back as the other girl spoke. “Tay. It’s okay. I’m here. Just breathe.”

Taylor tried to let out a steady exhale but all that came out was a stuttering breath followed by more sobs.

“It’s okay. Just try to relax. I’ve got you.” The taller girl said, still stroking Taylor’s back comfortingly “Breathe with me. Come on, inhale… exhale.”

Taylor tried to follow her friend’s breathing and after a few minutes managed to slow her breathing down to something more within normal ranges.

“That’s it. You’re alright. I’m here.” Victoria continued drawing circles in Taylor’s back.

The shorter girl stayed in her friend’s arms until her breathing and heart rate had calmed and she leaned back brushing tears out of her eyes, finally looking at the girl before her. Her hair was ruffled, she was clad in some soft shorts and a t-shirt, no make-up, tired eyes that said she was clearly asleep ten minutes ago. Almost no one ever got to see Victoria Chase like this, pretty much only Taylor, previously during late night sleepovers. But now it was really only because of her practically nightly panic attacks. Guilt started to set in at the thought of waking her best friend up _again_ because of a bad dream. “ _She’s awake because of me... She’s losing sleep because I can’t hold it together…_ ” She sniffled, tears starting to run again. “Sorry V… for waking you up… again.”

Victoria just shushed her and pulled her into another hug. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” After a minute she leaned back and reached up with her thumb to brush tears off of Taylor’s cheek. “Do you want to talk about it?” She scooted further onto the bed beside the shorter girl, wrapping an arm around her.

Taylor laid her head down onto her friend’s shoulder, leaning into the warmth of the other girl “It was…” she started then stopped when she realised there was snot running down her chin. “I need a tissue…” The taller girl leaned away briefly to click the lamp on and grab a handful of tissue from the box on the nightstand and Taylor found herself missing the warmth. After being handed the kleenex she blew her nose unceremoniously, before wiping at her chin and looking back up at Victoria.

Her friend smiled at her. “Better?”

Taylor exhaled, thankful that she could breathe through her nose again. “Yeah, thanks. Do I look alright?”

“Hmm?” Victoria squinted briefly, examining the girl before reaching a hand up to Taylor’s cheek and using the tissue in her other hand to gently brush the tears out of the girl’s eyelashes. 

Taylor’s breath hitched at Victoria’s touch and she hoped her friend didn’t notice how hot her face was beneath her hand. She was both thankful and sad when the hand left her cheek. She looked away praying that her blush wasn’t visible in the lamplight.

After tossing the used tissues towards the trashcan Victoria wrapped her arm around the shorter girl again, pulling her a bit to lean against her. “So what’s eating you at three am Sweet T.”

The blue-eyed girl blushed again at the nickname before feeling the guilt return at having to call her friend to calm her down in the middle of the night. She swallowed it down, focusing on actually answering Victoria’s question. “It was… I had a nightmare. I was in the hospital. And something bad was happening, but I couldn’t find my mom. I just kept running through the hospital halls and I couldn’t find her room! I just kept running and I got more and more scared and…” Taylor gasped trying to breathe, having started crying again.

Victoria hugged her friend tighter trying to calm her down again. “Hey T it's okay, just relax. Your mom is alright. It was just a bad dream.”

“But what if it's not V!?” The shorter girl broke away from her friend, panic rising in her voice, eyes darting around. “What if it was like… i don’t know! Some kind of a-a sign or something?! What if something’s wrong!? What if-”

“Taylor…” Her panicked tirade was halted when Victoria gently placed her hands on the girl’s cheeks and turned her face up to look her in the eyes. “It’s going to be okay. Your mom is doing great. You talked to her this afternoon, remember?”

Taylor felt her breathing start to slow, lost in her friend’s brilliant green eyes. But her worry was still winning out over the taller girl’s efforts to calm her down. “B- But what if they can’t get ahold of me?”

Victoria gently brushed the tears that fell from Taylor’s eyes with her thumbs “T, even if they couldn’t get to you on your phone… they have mine too.”

The blue eyed girl pulled her friend’s hands away carefully, not letting go of them. “What?” 

Victoria looked away almost sheepishly and...

“ _Did she just blush?_ ” 

“I uh…” the taller girl cleared her throat. ”The last time I took you to visit, I asked the nurse if she could put me down as a secondary contact.”

Taylor’s brow furrowed in confusion. “They agreed to do that? Even though you’re not family or anything?”

Victoria looked down at her lap where Taylor was still holding her hands. She seemed, embarrassed? “I may have pretended that I was your girlfriend…”

“Oh…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I just.” Victoria looked her in the eyes. “I wanted to make sure that no matter what they’d be able to reach you.” 

Taylor was stunned. “V that was… really sweet of you. To do that.” Taylor regarded the girl in front of her “ _She acts so tough and icy to everyone but… she’s always so nice to me._ ”

“I just…” Victoria seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “I… care about you, and want to make sure you’re okay.”

Taylor was now acutely aware that her heart was beating fast for an entirely different reason as she sat there silently staring at the girl across from her. Her cheeks flushing as she noticed how close she and the other girl were. She wondered if Victoria could feel her heartbeat in her hands “ _I want to tell her how much she means to me too…_ ” 

Victoria looked as though she was going to say something but Taylor quickly leaned up and pressed a kiss to the taller girl’s lips. But when she broke away a second later she started to panic when she saw the shocked look on Victoria’s face. “ _I fucked up_ ” 

“Taylor…”

The shorter girl started freaking out in earnest now. “ _I fucked up. I’m going to lose her._ ” So she went into damage control “V I-I-I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that. I…” Her rambling was cut off when Victoria’s soft lips captured hers in a sweet kiss she felt all the tension from the night melt out of her at the realisation that she hadn’t fucked up. That Victoria was kissing her back.

When she finally broke the kiss Victoria rested her forehead against Taylor’s, exhaling a long sigh. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long…”

Taylor leaned back slightly, looking the taller girl in the eyes. “Why didn’t you?”

Victoria sighed looking away. “It didn’t seem right… You’ve been so worried about your mom and things… I didn’t want you to think I was just taking advantage of you while you were vulnerable.”

“Oh…” Taylor whispered. “ _She’s so sweet._ ”

“But then…” She looked back up. She was blushing “You kissed me instead.”

Taylor smiled slightly at that. “Yeah.”

Victoria brought her hand up to rest it on Taylor’s cheek. “But I want you to know. That me supporting you, and trying to be there for you when you need someone, isn’t just because I like you. I just... “ She smiled warmly, staring into Taylor’s blue eyes. “I really do care a lot about you.”

Taylor leaned forward pressing another brief kiss to Victoria’s lips. “Thank you V. For being there for me.”

The taller girl smiled again. “Always. But I should probably let you get some sleep now that things seem to have calmed down.” 

She made a move to stand but Taylor reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. “V wait.” A look of concern briefly passed over Victoria’s face before Taylor continued. “Would it be alright if… Would you stay with me? Tonight at least?”

Victoria’s concern melted into another warm smile. “Yeah Tay, I’ll stay with you. For as long as you want.”

Taylor returned the smile before moving back up the bed and sliding under the covers, holding them out for Victoria. Victoria flicked off the lamp before sliding in as well. Wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. Taylor drifted off to the sounds of Victoria’s soft breathing, their legs tangled together. 

It was honestly the best sleep she’d had in years.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed these two being soft with each other.


End file.
